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Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Elon Musk, who recently completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, will begin layoffs at the social media giant on Thursday, according to an internal memo. The email, sent to employees late Thursday, said that staff members would be notified of their employment status starting Friday morning, according to NBC News and The New York Times.
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Employees were reportedly told not to return to Twitter's offices on Friday as the layoffs take place.
It was not immediately clear how many people Twitter plans to cut, but The New York Times reported that half of the company's workforce are expected to be laid off.
"In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce," the email said.
"We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is, unfortunately, necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward."
Musk immediately fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal as well as the company's chief financial officer and head of trust policy after taking control of the company on Oct. 27.
The billionaire has also faced controversy tied to Kanye West's recent antisemitic remarks.
Musk, before completing his purchase of the company, had welcomed rapper Kanye West back to the platform as the rapper tweeted said he was "going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE" last month.
"Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!" Musk had said.
The news of the layoffs comes as Amber Heard's Twitter account, @realamberheard, appeared to vanish from the platform. Musk and Heard dated after she split from her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
